June 3, 2014

Clamfight - I Versus the Glacier

Hailing from the depths of Westmont, NJ, Clamfight have created a weighty, shambling monstrosity with sophomore album I Versus The Glacier. The riffs are torrential in intensity, vicious as a hailstorm, while the martial drumming keeps the pace relentless. For all their thrash-like aggression and mercilessness, the structure of Clamfight's songs draw much more from the sludge and doom genres. The tone is fat and gelid, scouring the listener, while the emotional timbre of the album vacillates between lung-raw anger and the bleakness of an Arctic sunrise.

"Age of Reptiles" is a particularly doom-laden, guttural track, exemplifying their sound most clearly. However, it's the stirring, sweat-reeking "The Green Gods of Yag" that's surprisingly the album's standout track, with its compelling rhythm and cinematic density. I Versus The Glacier is the perfect soundtrack to a wrestling match held by frost giants.